How to understand Trump's withdrawal from Syria

Kemal Okuyan writes on the US army's withdrawal from Syria: "The issue of Syria has turned into a hodgepodge, and none of the parties are in place to take simplifying steps. The truth is, the only party that really wants simplification is the Damascus administration"
Saturday, 22 December 2018 20:00

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), Kemal Okuyan, covered in his column on soL the US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US Army from Syria. Mentioning the reviews in the American media, Okuyan draws a picture of several countries involved in the “issue” of Syria.

How to understand Trump's withdrawal from Syria

Trump asked, “Why were you surprised?” He is right – all along from the beginning, he had been saying that they would withdraw from Syria, and not so long ago he said that “the Islamic State (IS) is almost done” and they would go back home.

But everyone looks or pretends to be shocked!

Senators and journalists in the US keep commenting on the issue: “One morning he woke up and decided to do that”. This argument always sells when the issue is Trump. What is overlooked is that Trump is a useful bumpkin for part of the monopolies in the US. His unforeseeable behavior must be considered as a part of his usefulness.

Considering the Israeli administration’s announcement that the US informed them at the beginning of the week, it is clear that the details of the withdrawal had been discussed for a while among the military staff close to Trump.

There are some who really were shocked, no doubt – those, for example, who forget that the US is an unreliable ally. It is reported that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which consist heavily of Kurds in Syria, have pressurized the US authorities in the region to make them stay, and even organized rallies in several locations. There is no people in history revived by imperialism, including not only Kurds but also Turks, Arabs, Armenians, and all the peoples in the region.

We will get to the “reliability” issue later. Let us now take a look at the consequences of Trump’s move.

Everyone looks shocked and everyone says different things. I am leaving out the nonsense of some hypocrite American commentators who say, “the IS will grow fatter again if we leave”. The whole world now knows that the IS is a “design” to fit the interests of the US. If they grow fatter again, that would be because somebody wanted them to.

Then, what do we have when we consider the reviews worth attention?

Some conclude that the US had to take that step to avoid coming face to face with Turkey who has been preparing to start an operation to the Syrian land on the east of the Euphrates.

We go on, transforming this claim a little bit, to reach another conclusion stated by others: The US and Turkey have made an agreement, and that agreement extends to almost all topics.

There is no contradiction here, as you can see – Turkey’s pressure may have caused the US to change their policy on Syria in the “extensive agreement”.

There are also those who say that the US told Turkey, who turned the Free Syrian Army (FSA) that was almost eradicated into a powerful actor again, to “go on and you shall have the east of the Euphrates, as well.”

Those who say even more claim that the US has placed a powder barrel right between the trio of Turkey, Russia, and Iran by clearing the way for the alliance of Turkey and the FSA.

It was also put forward that Russia and the US had come to an agreement on a Kurdish formation; it is stated that the withdrawal happened in accordance with that agreement. Another version of this approach includes the addition that, by making that agreement, the US expects a wedge driven between Russia and Syria. Why would that even happen? Their answer is: Assad insists on a unitary Syria; Russia and the US, on the other hand, agree on that the Kurds have autonomy.

It is also among the many variations of analyses that the US is actually temporizing Turkey because the withdrawal would take months, so the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the FSA could not start the operations in this while and the US would use that period to set another play in Syria.

Now…

Since Trump’s move can encapsulate all these reviews which seem to be contradicting with each other, the move should not be seen as a decision of a dummy who woke up one day to say, “Get set fellas, we’re going back home.”

The issue of Syria has turned into a hodgepodge, and none of the parties are in place to take simplifying steps. The truth is, the only party that really wants simplification is the Damascus administration. All the others are busy trying to throw a monkey wrench in each other’s works. Trump’s move to “withdraw” is also an example of this.

No government is trustworthy in this picture – not in the least is the American imperialism who is ready to do anything to protect its shaken hegemony.

Let me finalize my words by saying that Trump’s move involves all of the reviews above that seem to contradict each other, but attention must be paid most to the one that indicates Trump’s intention to mar the relations between Turkey, Russia, and Iran – with an endnote:

Let them withdraw from everywhere. To hell with all of them!